Edward Waters University is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

historically Black university Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. Mo ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. It was founded in 1866 by members of the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...

(AME Church) as a school to educate

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...

and their children. It was the first independent institution of higher education and the first historically black college in the

State of Florida Florida is a U.S. state, state located in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia (U.S. state), Geo ...

. It continues to be affiliated with the AME Church and is a member of the

Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida The Independent Colleges & Universities of Florida (ICUF) is an association of 30 private, educational institutions in the state of Florida. Like the 12 public universities in Florida, all ICUF schools are accredited Accreditation is the indepen ...

History

The AME Church was the first independent black denomination in the United States and was founded in 1816 in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. After the Civil War, it sent numerous missionaries to the South to plant AME churches. The first

African Methodist Episcopal The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The African Methodist Episcopal ...

pastor in the state, William G. Steward, originally named the college Brown Theological Institute. L Charles H. Pearce was also involved in establishing an educational institution for the AME church in Jacksonville. Struggling with some financial difficulties, the school closed for much of the 1870s. It reopened in 1883 as "East Florida Conference High School”, then changed to “East Florida Scientific and Divinity High School.” Over the next ten years, the curriculum was expanded. In 1892, the school was renamed for Edward Waters, the third bishop of the AME Church.Davis, Ennis
"Edward Waters College"
''Metro Jacksonville,'' May 17, 2010 John R Scott (1)

A drawing of 1893 shows that the College President at that time was John R. Scott, Sr., first pastor of the St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church of Jacksonville, and a former member of the

Florida Legislature The Florida Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. State of Florida. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article III, Section 1 of the Florida Cons ...

. The original Edward Waters University campus was destroyed by the

Great Fire of 1901 The Great Fire of 1901 was a conflagration that occurred in Jacksonville, Florida on May 3, 1901. It was one of the worst disasters in Florida history and the third largest urban fire in the U.S., next to the Great Chicago Fire, and the 1906 S ...

. By 1904 the college obtained new land and work was started on the new facility. Edward Waters was accredited as a

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

in 1955 under President William B. Stewart and five years later had a restored four-year

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

. Beginning in 1979 the school was accredited as a four-year institution by the Commission on Colleges of the

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...

(SACS) and started awarding

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

Academics

Edward Waters University offers

s in eight academic programs including the following: Bachelor of Arts in communications, Music, Psychology, or Criminal Justice; Bachelor of Science in biology, Elementary Education or Mathematics; and Bachelor of Business Administration.

Accreditation

Beginning in 1979, Edward Waters University (EWU) was accredited as a four-year institution by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS-COC) and was recently fully reaffirmed in 2015. In 2004, Edward Waters University had submitted documents to SACS to support their request for reaccreditation. A ''

Florida Times-Union ''The Florida Times-Union'' is a daily newspaper in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Widely known as the oldest newspaper in the state, it began publication as the ''Florida Union'' in 1864. Its current incarnation started in 1883, when th ...

'' investigation in October discovered that the EWU documents

plagiarized Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

sections of text and statistics from a similar

Alabama A&M University Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (Alabama A&M) is a public historically black land-grant university in Normal, Huntsville, Alabama. Founded in 1875, it took its present name in 1969. AAMU is a member-school of the Thurgood Marsh ...

document. The Commission on Colleges voted to drop EWU from membership in SACS, thus revoking the school's accreditation, but the school appealed. A hearing was held in Atlanta during February 2005, and the appeal by Edward Waters University was denied. The school filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction during litigation, which a federal judge granted. The judge ruled that the college could show they were denied due process, and appointed two mediators. In June, the college and SACS agreed to a settlement that allowed the school to remain accredited while re-filing their accreditation documentation. The university's

accreditation Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

was reaffirmed in 2006.

Campus

Historic facilities

Centennial Hall

Centennial Hall, which contains the Obi-Scott-Umunna Collection of African Art, is the oldest building on campus. Built in 1916, it was added to the United States

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on May 4, 1976. It was designed by Richard Lewis Brown, Jacksonville's first known black architect. The Centennial Hall building contains the Edward Waters University Library which, was relocated from the H. Y. Tookes Building in 1979. The library also contains art and artifacts from central and West Africa.

Administration

*Dr. Jimmy Jenkins, served as president from 1997 to 2005 and was credited with increasing enrollment and raising standards at the school. *Dr. Oswald P. Bronson, former president of Bethune-Cookman College, served as interim president while a presidential search committee took two years to select a new leader. *Dr. Claudette Williams became the first female president of Edward Waters in 2007. She resigned in February 2010 to assume a position as a vice president with the accreditation organization,

. *

Nat Glover Nathaniel Glover Jr. (born March 29, 1943), is an American former college administrator and former police officer and sheriff. Glover is considered a pioneer in leadership in Jacksonville, Florida. He was the first African American elected sheriff ...

became EWC's 29th president on February 12, 2011. He retired in May 2018. * Dr. A. Zachary Faison, Jr. is the 30th President of Edward Waters College and took office in July 2018.

Athletics

The Edward Waters athletic teams are called the Tigers and the Lady Tigers. The university is a member of the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

ranks, primarily competing in the

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Formed in 1913, it consists mostly of historically black co ...

(SIAC) as a provisional member since the 2021–22 academic year; which they were a member on a previous stint from 1930–31 to 1934–35. Prior joining the NCAA, The Tigers previously competed in the

Gulf Coast Athletic Conference The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) is a college athletic conference made up entirely of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that's affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member inst ...

(GCAC) of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA) from 2010–11 to 2020–21 (with an associate transitional membership period for competing in conference championships during the 2021–22 school year); and in the Sun Conference (formerly known as the Florida Sun Conference (FSC) until after the 2007–08 school year) from 2006–07 to 2009–10. For football only, Edward Waters participated in The Sun Conference for the 2014 and 2015 fall seasons, and would later join the

Mid-South Conference The Mid-South Conference (MSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. The league is headquartered in Lou ...

's Sun Division from the 2017 to 2020 fall seasons. Edward Waters competes in 16 intercollegiate varsity sports: baseball, basketball, cross country, football, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball; and co-ed sports include competitive cheerleading.

Move to NCAA Division II

In 2019, the university received a membership invitation to join the SIAC, a historic HBCU athletic conference playing at the NCAA Division II level. Although still holding active membership in the NAIA, EWU has a scheduling agreement with the SIAC to play SIAC opponents in non-conference competition. Following the invitation, the college plans to apply for NCAA Division II membership and begin the multi-year transition process to become a full postseason-eligible member of the NCAA and the SIAC. The university broke ground on a permanent on-campus

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

facility in February 2020. The team previously played at local high schools. The new facility is planned to meet NCAA specifications as part of the athletic development process associated with the move to Division II.

Marching band

Edward Waters' marching band is officially known as the "Triple Threat Marching Band." The band was established in 2001 and has twice received an invitation to the

Honda Battle of the Bands The Honda Battle of the Bands (sometimes abbreviated The Honda or HBOB) is an annual marching band exhibition in the United States which features performances by bands from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Sponsored by the Amer ...

in 2009 and 2013. The marching band has also been invited to perform at halftime for the NFL's

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

Notable people

Dock J. Jordan Dock Jackson Jordan (October 18, 1866 – October 20, 1943) was an American lawyer, author, politician, educator, historian and civil rights activist. On July 14, 1917, a letter that Jordan wrote criticizing President Woodrow Wilson's policies ...

- Former President of Edward Waters College and Kittrell College, lawyer, civil rights leader * Leonard F. Morse - Alumnus of the Theology Department, Former President of Edward Waters College, Founder of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated. *Reggie Brown - Jacksonville City Council Representative * Jim "Cannonball" Butler - former NFL running back * Samuel Charles - Professional American football wide receiver *

- former president of Edward Waters and former Sheriff of Jacksonville *

Betty Holzendorf Betty S. Holzendorf is an American former politician from Florida. She served four years in the Florida House of Representatives and 10 years in the Florida Senate. Life and career Holzendorf graduated from Edward Waters College and the Univers ...

- former Florida State Representative from Jacksonville *Frederick Douglas Harper - author and scholar *

Buck O'Neil John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil Jr. (November 13, 1911 – October 6, 2006) was a first baseman and manager in the Negro American League, mostly with the Kansas City Monarchs. After his playing days, he worked as a scout and became the first Afric ...

- former

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

player * Rahman Johnson - TV personality, actor and former Duval County Commissioner * A. Philip Randolph - Civil rights activist and founder of the

Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Founded in 1925, The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) was the first labor organization led by African Americans to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The BSCP gathered a membership of 18,000 passenger railwa ...